Yours Truly
by hyperpsychomaniac
Summary: Cortes receives a letter from a friend he believes to be dead. He is unsure whether it can be trusted, but seeing her again is a chance that he can't miss...
1. Chapter 1

**A/n:** I'm meant to be writing another fic. But I got distracted by this idea. And it turned out longer than I expected. Oops. Anyway, I'm very much intrigued by the mentions of Cheng's mother in the episode "Blood Ties." And her implied relationship with Cortes (even though they were also sure to mention this was _before_ she got involved with Cheng's father XD). Skyland doesn't delve enough into the past, I think. But there's certainly a few good hints dropped (pity they don't follow these through, and many other things...). So yeah, this story sort of wonders what would happen if some of that past looked like it was coming back... Enjoy. :P

* * *

"She said I was supposed to give the letter to a man named Cortes

"She said I was supposed to give the letter to a man named Cortes." The teenage girl fingered the small envelope in her hands nervously then slid it across the bar. "So here you go…"

Cortes picked up the offered envelope with some amount of suspicion. "How'd you know where to find me?" he asked, not bothering to look at the letter just yet. Figuring out the girl first may let him know whether the letter itself could be trusted. Cortes didn't like people knowing where to find him.

"Well, I didn't," the girl replied. "But my Dad recognised your name when I told him. Said you'd helped out our bloc with some water problems some time back… which I suppose I should say thanks for…" She glanced up again, chewing her lip and then smiled.

"No problem…"

"Anyway, Dad also knew where Puerto Angel was 'cause he'd been doing some trading, so I came along… and there's the letter…"

"Well thanks for delivering it," Cortes nodded, satisfied that she herself seemed sincere.

"Yeah, thanks," Wayan tossed her a grin.

"It's okay," the girl grinned back at Cortes. "Bye." She pushed back her stool and left.

"You know…" Wayan smirked, once she'd left. "I think she liked you…"

"What!?" said Cortes, his attention snapping away from the letter before he could even look at it. "She wouldn't have even been fifteen!"

Wayan chuckled to himself, and Cortes huffed, realising the other man was just making fun at his expense.

"Behave yourself, Wayan…" Cortes trailed off, staring at the envelope.

Only his name was written on the front. 'Aran Cortes.' That in itself made him both curious and suspicious. But it wasn't just the use of his first name that caught his attention; the handwriting was hauntingly familiar.

"Can't be…" he muttered.

"What is it?" Wayan asked.

Cortes flipped the letter over. On the other side was written the name of the sender. "Tian…?" he said, his voice barely a whisper.

"Cheng's mother?" said Wayan, recognising the name. He could tell this was deeply troubling the Captain and he thought he knew why. "But she's dead…"

Cortes looked across at the other man, for a moment seeming lost and confused. Then his gaze hardened. "This is some sort of Sphere trick. It has to be." He stood up, having still not even opened the letter.

"Maybe… but what…" Wayan didn't get to finish his sentence. Cortes had already turned and strode out of the tavern doors.

Wayan watched them swing until they were once again still. He had been going to say 'what if it's not?' But he suspected that may have been exactly what Cortes was thinking.

--

"Have you opened it yet?"

"No."

Cortes was now up in the lighthouse. The unopened envelope sat on the table in front of him. He stared at it as if that would somehow reveal its secrets.

"Well," said the Vector gently, "opening it might help us figure out if it's from her or not."

Cortes glanced up at him. "I've believed she was dead for so long… this can't be real."

"You saw her die. You told me that much. That fact should make the answer obvious. What's making you doubt what you saw now?" It was rather blunt, but the Vector knew Cortes needed the question framed that way.

Cortes stared down at the letter again. "I watched her _dying._ I… never saw her _die_." He gritted his teeth. "She told me to leave. I had to before the Sphere got there… someone had to look out for Cheng."

The Vector frowned. Cortes hadn't told him that before. But he had never spoken much about the incident. The most the Vector had gotten out of him for months afterward had been 'she's dead, what more do you need to know!?' "Maybe you should open the letter…"

Cortes let out a long sigh, then nodded and picked up the letter. He stood up, and then moved over to a window, his back to the Vector. The paper crinkled in his hands, there was no sound of tearing as he carefully opened the envelope and pulled out a single sheet of paper.

Something else fell from the envelope. It flashed as it reflected the afternoon sunlight and rolled to a stop at the Vector's feet.

The Vector bent down and picked it up.

Cortes glanced to see that he had the item, and then turned his attention back to the letter, his heart racing.

_Aran,_

_Sorry, in a rush. On the run. Meet me on bloc J1835-B, 23__rd__ October 2251. I know you will doubt this, have enclosed something so you know it really is me. Can't wait to see you again. _

_Love Tian. Xoxo_

Cortes stared at the paper. The handwriting was Tian's. It was a scrawl, though her writing had always been like that, and she had said she was in a rush. But handwriting could be copied.

"Here…" The Vector had come up beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He held out his other hand, palm up.

In it was small ring. Cortes just stared at it, his heart in his throat. He took it from the Vector carefully, his hands shaking.

"It's her engagement ring, isn't it?"

Cortes nodded, having difficulty finding his voice. "Ye... Yeah. I remember her showing it off to me." For a moment, he had the slightest hint of a smile as he remembered. "Vector… she wants me to meet her. Soon." He drew in a breath and the smile was gone. "This could still be a Sphere trick…" he looked down at the ring. "But I have to at least check… I won't forgive myself if I don't. And if his mother's still alive, Cheng needs to know."

The Vector nodded. "I understand, Cortes. But be careful."

Cortes nodded, his attention on the ring and letter in his hands. "I won't let anything happen to the Saint Nazaire or my crew just because of this. It wouldn't be fair…"

"I don't just mean that. You know this could be a Sphere trick… don't let yourself put too much hope in it."

Cortes looked up at the Vector. "… I know."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n: **Grammatical error in title fixed at the wonderful Lightning Flash's request. :P

* * *

Cortes fired off three rounds in quick succession

Cortes fired off three rounds in quick succession. Then he ducked for cover, crouching low as the wall just above his head exploded, showering him in dusty shards of concrete.

Bloc J1835-B, on the 23rd of October, had nothing on it besides open space and a small cluster of old, disused ruins. The only other signs of life showed up a short while later: a squadron of Brigadiers and a small fleet of Sphere ships, whizzing low overhead.

The skies had been clear when the Saint Nazaire arrived. That had perhaps been the only reason he'd managed to convince his crew he should go alone. This was something he had to do himself, he'd told them. He didn't mention that he didn't want to put them in possible danger, because that would imply that _he_ might end up in danger. The hardest part had been telling Cheng he had to stay put. He'd gotten away with arguing it was too dangerous for him, and it was best he stayed where it was safe. He would be able to see his mother later, once Cortes had found her, and found that it was indeed safe.

He wouldn't be seeing her now.

Patrollers flew close overhead again, and Cortes pressed himself against the wall. The ships strafed the bloc with weapons fire, though they were obviously unsure of exactly where Cortes was. A few peeled off, and turned their attention back onto the Saint Nazaire where it floated a few kilometres away.

Cortes waited until they had passed, then stood up and shot a Brig before crouching back down again.

How could he have been such a fool!? He still didn't understand why the Sphere had gone to all that trouble just to bring them here. Surely the effort of writing a fake letter just for this wasn't worth it? Why did they have to delve into his past?! It was too excessive, and just didn't make sense. It hurt, it made him angry, and the Brigs that were trying to pin him down were copping the brunt of that anger.

Another of the robots exploded, hit by a blast from Cortes' gun. He took out a third, taking more pleasure in the machine shuddering and falling to the earth then he knew he should.

He turned his gun on a fourth, and suddenly everything seemed to go into slow motion. The Brig had just released a blast of energy from its weapon arm, at the exact same moment as Cortes' finger depressed his guns trigger. The Brig's blast would hit him. There was nothing Cortes could do about it.

The realisation turned the split second the energy took to traverse the distance between them into an almost eternity. Then Cortes felt the blast splatter across his chest. Tendrils of energy washed over him, causing his muscles to spasm and dropping him to his knees. Then everything went black around him.

--

Cortes became aware of his surroundings slowly. First it was just the warmth of the bloc and the breeze blowing over him. But then he remembered the Brigs, the Sphere.

He sat up suddenly, his eyes springing open, desperate to know where he was, what was going on, what danger he was in. He saw nothing but dim light, overtaken and blurred by splodges of black. His head hurt, and he felt as if he would keel over again.

"Woah. Careful, not so fast…" said a voice, accompanied by a hand on his shoulder.

Cortes froze. Having just been under attack from the Sphere, knocked unconscious and not entirely sure where he was, his first reaction was to lash out to defend himself. But he somehow realised that, in this instance, this was not the best way to react. Instead he simply sat there until the blood made its way back to his head and his vision cleared.

A woman with long black hair leaned over him, looking a little concerned, but unable to stop a smile that tugged at her lips. She was older than the last time he had seen her, but nevertheless he recognised her instantly.

"Tian!"

She smiled, exactly like he remembered. "Hi, Aran."

He just stared at her for a moment in unbelief, but the evidence was there, right in front of his face.

"Well, say something, silly!" she laughed.

"I thought you were dead," Cortes swallowed.

Tian shook her head. "Not that easy…"

Cortes stared at her for a moment more, blinking as he shifted forward, now no longer afraid of passing out again. He could think of nothing to say right away, so instead put his arms around her for a brief moment.

"Wow," said Tian, returning the hug, "these don't come cheap…"

"Tian, where have you been?" Cortes asked as he released her, pushing her back so that he could see her face, "If I had known you were alive…"

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, really. But… I guess it gets like that in Skyland. I've been keeping low, trying to do what I can against the Sphere… And I had no idea where to find you."

Cortes sighed. "It's okay. I understand. It's so good to see you..." he trailed off, again lost for words.

"Okay," Tian smirked. "Don't go into shock."

"I'm not…"

She became serious. "You sure you're okay? I did find you unconscious."

Cortes nodded. "I'm fine." He looked around, reminded of why he'd been unconscious, and trying to see if any of that threat still lingered. "The Sphere was here."

"I know. They were here when I arrived. I had to wait until they left. Then I came down here and found you."

Cortes stood up, taking in her explanation as he surveyed their immediate surroundings. "Did you see the Saint Nazaire?" He wanted nothing more to just talk to Tian for hours. But the bloc was not the safest place. Cortes would not let his emotions outweigh caution, even with the Sphere apparently gone.

"No… perhaps the Sphere got too much for them and they had to leave?"

"Maybe…" Cortes didn't sound convinced. The missing ship was concerning him.

"Aran, I'm sure they're fine. And I have a ship. We can go find them."

Cortes nodded, thinking for a moment. They would find the Saint Nazaire; it wasn't something he should worry about at the moment. "Cheng is on board." He turned back to Tian, breaking into a smile. "You'd be so proud of him. And he'll be so excited to find out you're really alive."

Tian smiled back. "He'd be what age now?"

"Twelve." Cortes was now having trouble stopping himself from grinning. He still could hardly believe it. He had wanted to believe Tian was alive, so much. It had seemed almost completely impossible; far too easy to have simply been a Sphere trick. But now she was standing right in front of him, and it was almost like they'd never been apart. "He's as smart as you, you know."

"I can guess. Are you right to walk back to the ship? It's not far."

"Tian, I feel fine. Honestly."

"Alright. That way…" She gave his shoulder a gentle shove, pushing him in her indicated direction.

Cortes didn't say anything for a moment, waiting for her to ask something more about her son.

"So you've still got the Saint Nazaire? How's she holding together?"

"Best as can be expected, I suppose. We've got a pretty good repair facility on our bloc."

"How about her weapons?"

Cortes frowned. "We've had to replace the main plasma cannon… why?"

Tian smiled. "Just wondering. You know how I feel about weapons systems. Might be able to give them a bit of a boost for you."

"Heh. I'm sure you could," Cortes smiled. "So long as you don't back up the engines, again."

"Okay, that was like how many times…?"

"Once. But once was enough," muttered Cortes, shaking his head. One of the weapons upgrades Tian had recommended, back when the rebellion was in full swing, had resulted in the Saint Nazaire's engines choking up and filling the engine room with smoke. Tian had insisted it was because the upgrade hadn't been installed correctly. Cortes had had them downgraded. It had annoyed him for months afterwards. But somehow, talking about it now, it seemed just a little bit funny.

"You know," he added, "I think the damn port wing canon is malfunctioning. It only fires at half capacity most of the time."

"Mmm…" said Tian, seeming to think for a moment. "Well, perhaps I can take a look at that when we find the Saint Nazaire."

"Perhaps… Tian, what happened?" Cortes asked; the question had been pressing on his mind, and was far more important than the ships weaponry. "When… I was so sure you were going to die. I'm sorry I left you."

Tian shrugged. "It's alright, I'm here now."

"It's just… it didn't look like you were going to survive. What happened, did the Sphere find you?"

Tian seemed to think for a moment, looking just a bit uncomfortable. "Yeah. They found me, but I escaped. There's really not all that more to it then that…"

"Yeah, but…"

"I don't want to talk about it, Aran," Tian snapped. Then her look softened. "Sorry…"

Cortes sighed. "No, I am. You don't have to talk about it." Again, Cortes felt a pang of regret for leaving her behind. What had the Sphere done to her? He'd almost forgotten they weren't as close as they had once been; of course she wasn't going to tell him.

They were both silent for a moment.

"Never mind," Tian said eventually. "We'll talk about something else…"

"Alright…"

"How's the rebellion going? Still causing the Sphere plenty of trouble?"

Cortes gave a small smile. "Sometimes I wonder if that's all we're doing. We're… surviving."

"Where are you based now?"

"A bloc called Puerto Angel. It serves our purposes. There's enough space to hide the Saint Nazaire, and it's far enough out that the Sphere doesn't pay us too much mind."

"What are the coordinates?"

"Now why do you want to know that?" Cortes stared at her.

"Just so I can get an idea where it is," she smiled.

Cortes stared at her for a moment more then snorted. "If you can tell off the top of your head where it is just from the coordinates… don't let the Vector know, he'll rope you in to help on his latest 'project'." He shook his head. "But you don't really want to hear all the ins and outs of our weapons systems, do you?"

"I don't…?" she asked, smiling as she waited for him to tell her what she _really_ wanted to hear about.

"No," he smiled back. "I bet you want to hear all about your son. Did I mention how smart he was?"

"Yeah," she laughed, "I think you might have."

"He solved a Rubix cube when he was three."

"Yeah?"

"That made me look bad, I still can't do them. And once he got hold of the portable generator and rigged it to make all the lights in the house flash like crazy… scared me like anything when I found him among all the wires…"

"Okay, maybe you'd better not tell me about your lack of supervisory skills regarding my son," Tian laughed.

"Yeah, maybe…"

"There's my ship," Tian pointed, before Cortes could continue. The end of the bloc seemed to have appeared rather quickly; Cortes seemed to remember it taking longer walking from when the Saint Nazaire had dropped him off. Perhaps he had just gotten caught up in the conversation.

Hanging from the end of the bloc now was a Volkswagen van. Thrusters were mounted under the body, and curved higher as they cleared the rear doors. A slightly rusted weapons turret was bolted to the roof, but Cortes could guess that Tian had rigged it to pack more of a punch than it looked like it could.

"Nice ship," he couldn't help smiling. It was just the sort of ship he could picture her driving. His smile faded slightly. In fact, it was e_xactly_ as he would have pictured it.

"Yeah, right," she laughed, bumping him with her shoulder. "It's a junker. Come on, we'll go find the Saint Nazaire."

Cortes waited for a moment, watching as she walked towards the ship ahead of him. There was a thin smile on his lips. It was so great to have her back.

A small concern ate at him. Tian seemed to barely listen to him when he spoke of Cheng. She had changed the subject to the Saint Nazaire's weapon systems, and then to the ship that now floated ahead of him. This lack of concern contrasted so sharply with his last memory he had of her talking about Cheng. When she gripped his shirt in a bloody fist and begged him to keep him safe.

Perhaps people changed. Cortes pushed the thoughts back in his mind, though not too far back. He followed her to the ship.

--

"Let me go after them in the Hyperion!" exclaimed Mahad, pacing the rear of the Saint Nazaire's bridge.

"No, Mahad," said Wayan. He and Dahlia sat at the ship's forward controls. They were both tense and ready to respond. But right now they were doing nothing.

In front of the Saint Nazaire floated a single Sphere patroller. They had managed to destroy all the others that had attacked at the bloc; this was the last one that stood in their way. It had the extra vertical stabilisers that were favoured by the higher ranking Guardians. This ship made no movement either.

"But we don't _know_ they have Cortes!" Mahad protested. "The Guardian cut the communication as soon as we asked for proof! For all we know he could still be stuck on that bloc!"

"You'd risk him getting killed on that assumption, Mahad?" Dahlia snapped.

"The Guardian is bluffing! He doesn't have him, so they can't kill him if we 'show any signs of attacking'. We're more powerful then his ship, we've destroyed the rest of his fleet – we have the advantage!"

"Exactly," said Wayan.

"See?!"

"So we don't need to push that advantage," Dahlia explained, rolling her eyes.

Mahad groaned.

"We'll wait and see what he does," said Wayan, keeping his attention focused on the lone patroller. "Right now, we don't know for sure where Cortes is; we're at a stalemate."

Cheng, sitting at the Saint Nazaire's central console, tried to block out everything going on around him by staring at the screen in front of him. As a distraction, it didn't work very well. This was his fault. Cortes would have exercised more caution had he not been doing this for him. Cheng had wanted to see his mother. He couldn't remember her at all; he could barely understand the concept of what it would be like for her to actually be alive. He'd been excited when Cortes had told him about the letter. Cortes had seen that. And perhaps he had felt guilty about how he'd previously handled informing Cheng about his family – not telling him the truth about his grandfather. Cheng was sure Cortes wouldn't have rushed into this if it wasn't for him.

An alert blared on the screen; the Sphere ship was making a move.

Dahlia threw the Saint Nazaire into gear and Wayan powered up the ship's weaponry.

"Argh! I should be in the Hyperion!" groaned Mahad, throwing his hands into the air.

"He's coming in on the port side…" said Dahlia.

"Got it…" said Wayan, focused on his target. "Let's hope… damn!"

"What?"

"The canon is malfunctioning again…"

"You expected it to work…?"

"Get me a better shot?" Wayan growled as he started to sweat.

"Got it." Dahlia swung the Saint Nazaire around, allowing a better line of sight between the ships other weaponry and the S22.

The patroller seemed to anticipate the move. In fact, it almost seemed to anticipate _why_. It followed the Saint Nazaire's spin, keeping close to the ships left wing. Then it opened fire.

"Dahlia…"

"I'm trying! He's too manoeuvrable!"

"How does he know it's malfunctioning?" Wayan wondered, almost to himself. He was depressing the fire button repeatedly, but the canon refused to respond.

"Might be because it's not doing any shooting," Dahlia growled back. She gripped her own controls tightly, and the ship itself was now spiralling through the sky. It and the patroller appeared to be locked together as they spun around and around each other. The patroller continued to fire, but was unable to get through the Saint Nazaire's shields. They were, however, slowly weakening.

"The Hyperion…!?" called out Mahad, trying to keep his balance as the deck tilted beneath him.

"Go!" yelled Dahlia.

Mahad took off.

"We need a better strategy before he punches through our shields…"

"We need a better gun!" Wayan growled, getting up from his controls in disgust. He jogged to the back of the bridge, picked up a large rifle, and headed outside. If he could cover the area the canon was _supposed_ to…

Weapons fire from the patroller appeared almost in front of him, and Wayan purely reactively ducked. The energy splattered harmlessly off the ships shields. He gritted his teeth and put the rifle to his shoulder. He'd be alright, provided the shields held. There was a fairly good chance they would. He just had to disable the patroller before they wore out. That, Wayan assured himself, he could accomplish. They'd have the advantage again.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/n: **On re reading this, I think I've rushed a few parts of the plot. And it still turned out longer than I expected! D: Oh well.

* * *

There was not a great deal of room inside Tian's small vessel

There was not a great deal of room inside Tian's small vessel. There was space for perhaps three in the front, but she'd filled the back with all sorts of junk. Tian had clambered across into the driver's seat, and Cortes had to pitch a small alternator off of the passenger seat before he could get in.

She was now powering up the small ships systems, flicking controls and putting everything into gear.

"Tian…" said Cortes, taking the time to survey the condition of the ship and its contents, "how long have you been flying this around?" The whole thing was now shuddering as all its systems came online.

For a moment, Tian didn't answer. She seemed entirely engrossed with powering up the ship. Except that, as Cortes looked at her, she seemed less like she was concentrating and more like she was totally out of it.

"Tian!" He tapped her on the shoulder with the back of his hand, probably a bit harder than he needed to.

"Hm? Sorry… want to make sure this thing doesn't fall out of the sky…"

"I was asking how old the ship…"

"Hey, Aran," Tian cut him short. "What frequency have you got the Saint Nazaire's shields running at?"

"What…?" On top of the brief moment of her being completely zoned out, Tian's question put Cortes even further on edge.

"You can tell me." She smiled. "I might be able to improve them for you."

Cortes thought for the briefest moment. "Four hundred and fifty-two mega hertz…" he finally said, carefully. Now he was just staring straight at her.

Tian smiled again, but this time it seemed less familiar. "Thanks." She then turned back to whatever she had been doing previously, seemingly unperturbed by the look he was giving her.

Cortes turned back to the front of the ship, and swallowed hard. This wasn't right. He struggled to pull up everything that had been said in the past half hour. Struggled to place what hadn't been right, even as his heart tried to insist that this was Tian. She wouldn't be…

"They're not running at four fifty!" she exclaimed suddenly. Then she turned, glaring hard at Cortes. "You lied to me!"

Cortes blinked and looked across at her. He hadn't expected her to realise. He'd only given her the wrong figure because of his sudden fear she'd been digging for information. He hadn't expected her to so quickly prove this fear true. He sighed, and shook his head. "Now how in Skyland would you know that?"

She didn't have an immediate answer, and seemed surprised by her own outburst. Then she smiled. "Aran, sorry. But shields don't normally run at that frequency… maybe you made a mistake?"

Cortes found himself wanting to believe that explanation. But now he was forcing himself to be suspicious of everything she said. He knew he had made no mistake – he'd lied to her on purpose. "No, Tian. It's perfectly plausible for a ship that size to have its shields running at or around that frequency. It's just not the frequency the Saint Nazaire's are currently running at. So, I'll ask you again – how do you know that?"

Tian stopped smiling. "And I thought you trusted me. This was why I didn't want to marry you."

"What? You told me…" Cortes started to say, now confused and angry. He stopped himself. "Don't change the subject," he growled. "You want to know about the ships weapons, where Puerto Angel is, and the frequency of the ships shields…"

"I told you – you know I like weapons…"

"What the bloody hell do you expect the frequency of the shield, or the _exact_ coordinates of Puerto Angel to tell you anything useful about weapons?!" Cortes shouted.

Tian sighed. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing." She turned to Cortes, looking him directly in the eye. "This isn't working, so I might as well tell you. If I have the exact frequency of your ships shields, I can tell my colleague to set his ships weapons appropriately. It'll be like your ships shields aren't even there. And the coordinates to Puerto Angel... well, I think you can figure it out. What's wrong, you look upset?" She smiled again, but this time didn't even attempt to make it appear sincere.

Cortes had to clear his throat before he spoke. "Who exactly is your colleague?"

"A Sphere agent. Just like me."

"What is wrong with you!?" Cortes burst out. "You've seen what the Sphere is capable of. You saw what they did to your husband!"

"People change, Aran," Tian said calmly. "Right now this job is more profitable for me. So, why don't we try this from a different angle? Tell me your shields frequency – and this time the _real_ frequency. If you do, I promise you, we won't hurt your crew. My mission is to stop the Saint Nazaire's attacks on the Sphere's ships. I don't need to hurt them. Of course, if I have to do it the hard way, I may not be able to stop my colleague from hurting them…"

"Don't you threaten me!" Cortes snarled. "Why don't you try it from _this_ angle… your son is on the Saint Nazaire. I don't know how much you trust your 'colleague' but I wouldn't be giving him information like that."

Tian shook her head. "You pirates think you're just so _good_. Now you're using my son against me."

"I am simply telling you how it is," Cortes snapped. "I have never _used_ Cheng, and I never will!"

"Of course not," said Tian dismissively. "You're real mistake is assuming I care."

"He's you son, Tian!"

"He's someone _you_ care about. Not me. Not anymore. If you want him safe, give me the frequency…"

Cortes gritted his teeth and hung his head, almost not hearing her. Tian couldn't not care about Cheng. Discovering Tian had changed sides was very difficult to believe. But that she didn't care about her son, that Cortes could simply not believe. It wasn't right. It wasn't what he remembered.

_He couldn't quite get a grip on her bloodied hands, but he grabbed them anyway. His trouser leg immediately began to soak up the blood that seeped from the gaping wound in her side. If he noticed, it didn't bother him. And she didn't seem so much focused on her own pain._

"_Aran, you have to go."_

"_I am not leaving you. The Sphere…"_

"_The Sphere's already got me."_

"_You're not…" he drew in a ragged breath. "I'll stay anyway."_

"_The Sphere is coming!"_

"_I don't care!"_

"_I do!" She grabbed his collar now, trying to drag him down so he had to listen to her. She wasn't strong enough, but he let her anyway._

"_They'll kill you. Then who's supposed to look out for Cheng?"_

_Cortes paused, now only inches away from the dying woman's face. "Cheng has…" he couldn't finish. Cheng's mother was dying. The boy would have no one._

"_He's got no one, Aran. That's why you can't die here. I trust you, and I know you care about him. I'm choosing you now… to look after him…" Her voice was now growing faint. "Look after him. Don't let the Sphere get him like they did Dad…"_

"_I won't…"_

"_Promise me, Aran…" Her eyes were loosing focus._

"_I promise…" he said quickly, not wanting her to go before he'd reassured her. "I'll look out for him."_

_She blinked and somehow managed a smile. "Good. Now you've got to go."_

Cortes had left without looking back. As he sat in the passenger seat of the ship now, remembering, he knew that something here still wasn't right. He knew Tian too well. She had believed she would die alone, or worse have the Sphere find her before she did. She'd made him leave because she cared more about her son more than she had about herself.

"Are you going to give me the frequency of not?" Tian snapped impatiently.

Cortes ignored the question. "New Years Eve, 2234. What did we do that night?"

Tian huffed. "Do you really want to reminisce?"

"Just answer the question," Cortes snapped. "Then I might give you the shields frequency."

Tian glared across at him, but Cortes was avoiding looking her in the eye. "Alright…" she said slowly, deciding she would need to answer in order to get more out of him. It seemed to be taking her awhile to get her thoughts together. Then she just jumped right in. "We watched fireworks… or stars or something, got a bit too drunk, woke up next to each other…"

"Wrong answer…" Cortes growled, cutting her short before she could continue further. He was gripping the edge of the seat tightly now.

"Oh… well, I can't say whatever it was was that important to me…"

"We broke up…" Cortes snapped.

"Like I said 'not that important'…"

"You don't know…" Cortes interrupted, his voice beginning to rise in volume, "because you weren't _there_." He turned and looked directly at the woman next to him. "Now I don't know how you know so much about Tian, or why you look just like her, or how you have her engagement ring… but you can stop this whole bloody charade right now!"

She took his outburst fairly calmly, then just sighed. "From her cold, dead hand…" she finally said.

"What?"

"Her engagement ring."

Cortes opened his mouth to reply, but then just swallowed hard and turned away.

"No, Cortes, I'm not your long-lost lover. She was found dead after a pirate raid years ago. The Sphere stripped the bodies found of anything valuable and burned them. I was given the ring recently because it would benefit my mission. I was hoping I could pull this off for long enough that you'd give me enough information to take down the Saint Nazaire, and maybe your base… what did you say it was called? 'Puerto Angel?'"

Cortes blinked a few times before turning and glaring at her. That bit of information was more than he'd want someone from the Sphere to know. He ignored the comment, hoping it would help it slip from the woman's mind. "How are you doing this?" he asked instead, looking her up and down.

"This?" she gestured down at herself, correctly guessing he meant the likeness. "It's all in your head. In fact, all of this is."

Then, right in front of him, she changed. The likeness of Tian seemed to waver, and then morphed into a younger, blonde woman.

Cortes shifted backwards, startled, and bumped up against the ships closed door.

"My name's Alexis. I'm a Seijin," she explained further. "And you're unconscious. Thinks of this…" she gestured around at their surroundings, "… as a dream."

"So you're in my head..."

"Sort of, yeah," she smiled. Again, it seemed insincere.

"Then why bother tricking me?" Cortes snapped, still startled. "If you're in my head, why don't you just find the information you want, take it and leave!? Or is this sort of sick game just something you enjoy?"

Alexis sighed. "It's a common misconception that Seijins can access _all_ of a person's thoughts. That person has to actually let them; or at least be convinced to let them. They can be forced, but I've always found you can get far more results if they trust you."

"And that's nicer than torturing them?" said Cortes sarcastically.

"Practical, not necessarily 'nice', no."

"That still doesn't explain how you knew enough about Tian to trick me."

"Tibald Ye," Alexis said simply.

"What'd you do to him!?" Cortes burst out.

"You still care, despite the fact he's on the other side?"

Cortes drew in a breath, calming himself. "It's a weakness of mine," he said bluntly, hoping the outburst hadn't put Tibald in any danger.

Alexis seemed to accept the explanation. "Don't worry," she went on, "we didn't hurt him. He's an asset. And like I said, trust and persuasion work much better. The man is under tight scrutiny. He's lonely, and quite happy to talk about his daughter and some of his past with someone he trusts."

Cortes sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. He didn't want to say anything more for fear of putting Tibald in danger. Besides, how could he have known information about his daughter would be used in such a way? It wasn't his fault. "And you did all this to get the Saint Nazaire?" he finally said.

"Yeah. And all we need…"

"You're not getting it!" Cortes burst out again, undoing all his efforts to calm himself.

"Didn't think…" Alexis trailed off. She was getting that distant look again.

Cortes suddenly realised she must be communicating with her 'colleague'. She didn't need a communication system. For all Cortes knew she could be speaking to someone outside his body, or perhaps telepathically.

"Sure you don't want to tell me that frequency?" she asked suddenly, as if in a hurry. "Even if I told you we wouldn't hurt your crew?"

"I wouldn't believe you," Cortes growled. "And don't you dare do anything to my crew!"

Alexis laughed. "Or you'll what? You're stuck here! Now I have to leave, my colleague needs help taking down a pirate ship. Enjoy having your mind all to yourself." She smiled that now irritatingly insincere smile, and then promptly vanished from Cortes' sight.

Cortes was left alone. Suddenly his own breathing seemed very loud within the confines of the small ship. That was odd, because in his dream he didn't necessarily need to hear himself breathe.

He reached into his jacket, and pulled out Tian's engagement ring. It wasn't the real ring. This was just a dream. But it was where in reality he had put it, and he remembered it well enough to imagine it in his mind.

How could he have been so foolish? He was probably captive on a Sphere ship. The Saint Nazaire was under attack, and he had no idea whether his crew were handling it or were in real danger. All because he had believed some cryptic letter and the accompaniment of a ring which he had no right to hold so much emotional attachment for. He'd know Tian was dead; he'd know for years. Yet the smallest glimmer of hope, though it had been far more likely to be a Sphere trick, had made him doubt that. It was his fault his crew was in danger.

Cortes looked at the ring again. Then he put a hand on the handle to the ships door, intending to fling it open and toss the ring. For some reason, the door wouldn't budge. He was stuck in the ship. It really didn't matter, because he was stuck in his own mind.

Cortes slammed his shoulder into the door again, and then instead just slammed his fists on the console. The ring bounced out of his hand and flew somewhere into the back of the ship, but he ignored it. It wasn't real. Just like those few moments where he had actually believed Tian was alive, before he'd started to doubt.

He folded his arms on the console, dropped his head against them and breathed deeply. He'd just wanted her back. The Sphere had taken so many good people, so many friends away from him. Nothing could ever bring them back, and he should have realised that when he'd received the letter. He'd believed it, and he'd told Cheng, and he'd believed him. How would he tell he'd been wrong? That'd he'd never get to see his mother?

Would he even ever see Cheng again? The Sphere held him captive; they'd kill him once he was of no more use. He'd been shot; he could be too badly injured anyway.

The thought of losing Cheng, of having Cheng lose him, forced Cortes to refocus his thoughts. He had to get out of this; he had to wake up. He wasn't sure how to go about this, he was pretty sure he wasn't in a normal sleep. He just knew he had to.


	4. Chapter 4

The Hyperion hovered around the front end of the Sphere ship, weapons at the ready

The Hyperion hovered around the front end of the Sphere ship, weapons at the ready. The ships presence made it impossible to attack the Saint Nazaire on its weakened side. And with the larger ships shields still up, victory was starting to seem impossible.

"Nice one, Alexis," the Guardian at the helm growled.

"Don't put the blame on me, Daniel!" Alexis shouted back. "He knows her too well. Besides, I'm not the one who thought one squadron of ships would be enough!"

"Alright, alright!" the man relented. "But what do we do?"

"We still have their Captain. If those fools care as much about him as he does them, they won't hurt us."

"Yeah," Daniel snorted, "but do they care enough to give up the ship? That was our mission in the first place…"

"Don't worry, Daniel, we'll figure that out when we get to it," Alexis sighed. "Now open the communication channel."

--

On the Saint Nazaire the radio blipped, indicating an incoming transmission. Wayan answered it.

"It looks like you have us at a disadvantage," came the male Guardian's voice from the radio.

"Yeah," Wayan replied bluntly, "We do. So I think we need to make a new deal. Hand over Cortes, and we'll let you go, unharmed…"

The man laughed. "It was hard enough to get hold of him in the first place! The answer's no. Besides, you're not going to harm us while we've still got him."

"We still don't know you have him!" Mahad cut into the transmission from over on the Hyperion.

"Let us handle this, Mahad," Dahlia snapped.

"Division in the ranks…" the Guardian muttered. "Alright, you want proof? My assistant was busy before, but I think she can show you now… check your visuals…"

On the Saint Nazaire's screen, accompanying the transmission appeared a video link. It showed the interior of the lower parts of the Sphere ship, dimly lit. On one of the benches to the side Cortes lay unconscious.

"Cortes!" Cheng exclaimed, standing up.

Mahad swore.

Closer to the camera, a blonde woman stood, pointing a gun at Cortes and smiling over her shoulder towards the camera. "Make no mistake, if you don't let us go I will shoot him," she said. "And Daniel, I'm your _partner_, not assistant."

"Eh," said Daniel, dismissively. "Think about it," he addressed the Saint Nazaire again. "Real carefully. We'd like to leave as soon as possible. We'll get back to you in a few moments." The transmission was cut. The visual, however, remained, perhaps as a reminder of what they had to loose.

Up the front of the ship, Dahlia and Wayan started discussing urgently among themselves. Mahad threw in some input from over on the Hyperion, but only succeeded in getting shouted at by Dahlia.

Seeing that it was likely he would be unable to get a word in edgewise, Cheng ignored them and turned to Lena. "Lena, you're a Seijin," he implored, "You can contact Cortes, you can warn him…"

"Cheng," said Lena gently, cutting him short, "Cortes is asleep or… he's asleep. He probably won't hear me. And even then, what good would warning him do?"

"Then you have to tell him to wake up! He's right in their ship," Cheng pointed at the display. The blonde woman was still watching Cortes with her gun drawn, but seemed relaxed, as if she didn't expect him to wake up anytime soon. "If he wakes up, he might be the only person who can save himself!"

Lena nodded. She wasn't sure if she could do it, but what Cheng said made sense. "Alright, I'll try…" She sat down, and closed her eyes.

Cheng watched her, for what seemed to him like ages, but really would have only been less than half a minute, then realised he was holding his breath. He exhaled slowly, resisting the urge to ask Lena if it was working.

Seconds later, Lena opened her eyes, and shook her head. "It's not working. He won't let me in…"

"What… what do you mean?"

Lena shrugged. "I can't just barge into his head. At least, if Seijin's can, I don't know how. And he's in a real deep sleep."

"Why not!?" Cheng demanded. This was all he could think of and it wasn't working!

"I don't know _how_ to get in. It's too locked up… I've only been able to get into Mahad's head a bit when he doesn't want me to… just to tease him a little. I wouldn't do it to anyone else, so I haven't tried."

"How come you can get into Mahad's head but not Cortes'?!"

"I don't know, Cheng. I guess maybe I just know him better."

Then Cheng had an idea. "Let me get into his head instead then!"

"What?"

"Can't you help? Help me get over there, you've got the power. I might know the way in."

Lena thought about it. "I might be able to… but I haven't tried before…"

"Please!?"

"Okay, okay, take my hand…"

Cheng did so. For a brief moment nothing happened. Then his vision was taken over by a flash of white light. Suddenly, he and Lena were standing in the hold of the Guardians' S22. The first thing Cheng saw was the woman with the gun. He gasped, and stepped back into Lena.

"It's okay! She can't see us, we're not really here," Lena reassured him. "Well, we got this far…"

Cheng drew in a breath, and nodded. Then he saw Cortes, lying unconscious on the bench next to them. The man's chest rose and fell as he breathed, but he made no other movement.

"Cortes…" Cheng reached out a hand, which he realised looked almost pale and transparent. It passed straight through Cortes' shoulder, and Cheng gasped again.

"We're… not really here…" Lena explained.

Cheng nodded again, fighting back tears. He was right next to Cortes and he couldn't even touch him! "So how… how do we do this?"

"I'll start, but I couldn't get very far. You'll have to take it from there."

"Okay. I'm ready."

Everything was again replaced by a flash of white light, and then they were standing on nothing; a world filled with strands of light, though with no real solidity to anything. They were inside Cortes' mind. It was confusing, and Cheng suddenly doubted if he really did know his way in.

"I can't go any further," said Lena suddenly.

Cheng looked back over his shoulder at her, standing a few paces behind him. Nothing much seemed to hold her back, except perhaps a few orange strands of light that had wound a loose lattice in front of her. Cheng hadn't encountered any problem. He swallowed, then nodded, turned back around and kept going.

"Cortes!" he called out, unsure if doing so would actually help. There seemed to be little of anything around him. With a brief smile, Cheng couldn't help thinking that if Cortes got out of this he'd have to let him know there was a lot of empty space in his head.

"Cortes, it's Cheng! You need to wake up; they're going to shoot you…"

At that moment, Cheng bumped up against something, halting his progress. In front of him were more strands of orange light, just like those he'd seen in front of Lena. "No…" He tried to take a step forward again, but as he touched the strands they again resisted his movement. He couldn't get past.

He drew in a sob; it wouldn't work. But then he pulled himself back together again and reached out his hands, touching the strands again, feeling their resistance. He wasn't able to push through them. But you didn't just push forwards to get to Cortes.

Cheng thought for a moment. Then again, reaching out for the strands, he brushed against them. His hands caught the edges, pulling them gently aside and apart. Finding a space now, he crouched, and slipped through.

"Cortes!" he called again, regaining some confidence. He wasn't exactly sure how he could know, but he felt like he was getting closer. He started moving faster, breaking into a jog.

Then he saw something strange. A small ship floated ahead, the only solid object he'd seen since leaving Lena. It looked like some sort of van, wheels removed and converted for flight. Then he saw Cortes through the ships window.

He ran to the door, grabbed the handle, and pulled. It didn't open. He shouted, and banged a fist on the window, but Cortes seemed unable to hear him.

"Let me in…!" he pleaded, tugging at the handle again. He looked at the door. Why was there a ship in the middle or Cortes' mind? It couldn't be real. At least no more than anything else he'd already gotten through. With that thought, he touched the door again, but this time pried at the metal like he had the strands of light that had previously blocked his way. At first nothing happened, but then the metal began to feel softer, before suddenly breaking down, wavering and turning to orange light. Then the whole ship disappeared in a silent explosion of light, leaving just Cortes standing there.

"Cortes!" Cheng exclaimed, taking a step towards him.

Cortes was disorientated for the briefest of moments. Then he seemed to notice Cheng, and stared at him hard. "What are you playing at this time?" he snapped harshly.

Cheng halted. "I…"

"You fooled me once; don't think you can again just because you come back as him!"

Cheng couldn't understand why Cortes was yelling at him, but he had to get through to him. "Cortes, it's me, Cheng! You've got to wake up. You're stuck on a Sphere ship; they're going to kill you!"

Cortes paused, watching him.

"You're in the bottom of a Sphere ship. There's a Guardian three feet away, holding a gun. You gotta wake up and take her out before she shoots you!" Cheng had now started crying; Cortes was just looking at him and didn't seem to be taking as much notice of his words as he should be. "We're too far away to save you, you've got to do it yourself!"

"How would Cheng even get into my head to tell me this?" Cortes growled.

"Lena helped. She brought me here but she couldn't come all the way herself. She said you were too locked up or something…"

Cortes still just stared at him.

"Why won't you believe me!?"

Cortes glare softened. As much as he was suspicious of another Sphere trick, he couldn't just stand there and watch Cheng break down. "A Guardian came into my dreams," he explained, "just like you have. She pretended to be your mother."

Cheng drew in a breath and just looked at Cortes, digesting exactly what that meant. "So… my mother's not really alive?"

"No…"

Cheng dropped his gaze towards the ground. "Oh…"

Cortes looked at him just standing there, and somehow knew he couldn't be Alexis. He took a step forward, putting his hands on the boy's shoulders. "Cheng, I'm sorry…"

Cheng grabbed onto Cortes and squeezed him in a tight hug, sobbing. "It's okay. But you've still got to wake up."

"I'm not sure how, I've been trying…"

Suddenly Cheng seemed to be snatched away from him. He was drawn back through the orange light that had replaced the small ship around him. He grew smaller then disappeared entirely.

Cortes stood in shock for the briefest moment, before panic hit him. "Cheng!" He dashed in the direction Cheng had gone, but everything around him looked the same, like he wasn't even moving. He kept running, because he could do nothing else, and had been overcome by the desperate urge to just escape and see Cheng again.

Then the orange light gave way. He was no longer running. He was lying down, in a dim grey room.

"Shit!" exclaimed a female voice.

A glitter of light reflected off steel.

Cortes rolled from where he'd found himself; a bullet hit where'd he'd been a fraction of a second before he landed in a crouch on the floor. He stood up with as much force as he could muster, grabbing for where he'd last seen the gun. His hands found the weapon, knocking it from the woman's grasp.

Alexis gathered a ball of light and threw in into Cortes' chest, flinging him back and smashing him into the wall.

Somehow, Cortes hand found the gun on the floor as he struggled to push himself upright.

"You're proving far too dangerous to be kept alive," said Alexis, forming another ball of energy in her hands. This one was more charged, sparking off into the walls of the ship. It would kill, and it took her a few seconds to fully form.

So she wasn't prepared to stop the bullet that came at her. She didn't even know Cortes had picked up the gun.

Alexis put a hand to her chest; she pulled it back, covered in blood. She looked up at Cortes. Then she sunk to the floor and stopped breathing.

Cortes let the gun drop from his grasp, and leaned back against the wall, panting.

--

Cheng suddenly found himself back on the Saint Nazaire. Lena, sitting next to him, was slumped in her chair, exhausted. He himself had been left with a blinding headache from the experience.

He blinked to try and clear the pain, and then suddenly remembered he didn't even know what had happened to Cortes. He looked at the screen.

"Cortes is okay!" Dahlia exclaimed from the helm.

"What?" came Mahad's voice from the Hyperion.

"He woke up and took out the woman guarding him!"

"He's still got one Guardian to worry about," said Wayan. He activated the radio. "Daniel, this is Wayan. Looks like the situation has changed; I think we have to make a new deal."

There was no reply.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/n: **Last chapter. I hope I haven't gone overboard on the smush, but you can let me know. :P

* * *

Cortes was sitting on the floor of the ship, catching his breath, when the ships lift activated and starting moving down

Cortes was sitting on the floor of the ship, catching his breath, when the ships lift activated and starting moving down. He stood up quickly, picking up the gun from the floor.

On the platform stood a man, Cortes recognised him as a Guardian. He raised the gun, unsure if he would be able to win this without the element of surprise. "You must be her _colleague_."

The man made no move to attack, and seemed unfazed by the weapon Cortes pointed at him. He looked across at Alexis' fallen body, then sighed, and slowly put his hands above his head.

"Guess you'd better shoot me too, pirate."

Cortes followed his gaze, then looked back up at him. "Did she tell you anything she'd learned from me?"

"Which of your weapons was faulty, what frequency your shields were at, which didn't help much…" He said all this as he continued to stare at the dead woman.

Cortes stepped closer, forcing the man to look at him. "Anything else?"

"No." He glared up at Cortes, anger and pain in his eyes.

"You sure?"

"Nothing!" the man snapped. "Now just kill me!"

Cortes raised his arm, and then hit the man over the head with the butt of his gun.

The Guardian slid to the floor unconscious.

"You'll learn to live with it," Cortes whispered. He sighed, closing his eyes. He just wanted to get off the Sphere ship.

--

The Saint Nazaire floated through the clouds; now well on its way home. The patroller had been set to autopilot and pointed towards Sphere territory. By the time the Guardian woke up, he and the pirates would be miles apart.

Cortes had been relatively quiet since arriving safely back on board. After he'd been welcomed back by his crew and made sure the ship was set on a safe course he'd retreated down to his cabin. He now sat at the table in the centre of the room. Tian's engagement ring sat slightly to his left on the wooden surface. He'd thrown away the letter. To his right was a recycled cigar box.

The cigar box had remained unopened for years. It usually resided in a corner of Cortes' bookshelf, among a few other objects and books he didn't want to look at everyday, but had never quite been able to throw away.

Cortes stared at the box now, before drawing it in front of himself. He drew in a breath, before slowly cracking open the lid. Inside were many photos, and a few scraps of paper. Notes from, and pictures of people he'd lost.

He pulled out one of the notes, careful not to damage anything in the box. The paper was yellowed more than when he'd last looked at it. Cortes stared at it for a moment without turning it over, much like he had the letter that had turned out to be from the Sphere. This one, however, he knew was real. He felt silly reading it again, but recent incidents had polluted his memories of Tian. He needed to get them out of his mind; he wanted the real memories whenever he thought of her.

He unfolded the letter.

_Aran,_

_We haven't talked in days. I'd ask why, but I think we both can easily guess the answer. I'm sorry about what happened New Year's Eve. …Or perhaps I'm not, because there's no point continuing something that isn't going anywhere._

_But I do want to continue our friendship. That was stronger than our love ever was, and it's something I want back. I hope it's something you don't take as much for granted… but we went through that already…_

_Aran, I don't want to loose you as a friend, can we please talk?_

_Yours truly,_

_Tian._

If only he'd read this before he'd rushed off to find her, maybe he would've spotted a difference between the two letters. Cortes sighed. He knew he would still have gone. Why had he kept the scrap anyway? He let it drop back into the open cigar box.

He picked up the ring, turning it over in his hand. Tian was gone, he should never have believed otherwise. He let that too drop into the box. She was never coming back.

Cortes stared at the box in front of him. Why did he even keep this stuff? Almost everyone inside was gone for good. Perhaps he held some small, unfounded hope that they'd somehow come back. He knew logically they could not, and yet, he had believed the Sphere's letter. He'd led his crew on a wild goose chase and put them all in danger. He'd let Cheng believe his mother was alive, and then disappointed him.

Again, as in the ship in his mind as he'd been held hostage, Cortes had the urge to throw Tian's ring, as well as they entire contents of the cigar box overboard. They had done nothing for him but cloud his judgement.

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock at his cabin door.

Cortes let out a frustrated sigh. "Who is it?"

There was a brief pause, and then the door creaked open. "Cortes…?" Cheng stood in the open doorway, not quite sure if he should come in any further.

"Cheng…" Cortes suddenly felt angrier at himself than the intrusion. "It's alright, you can come in."

Cheng closed the door quietly behind him, and walked over to the table.

Cortes turned his attention back to the open cigar box, seemingly unsure whether he wanted to make eye contact with Cheng or not. Instead, he concentrated on shutting the lid to the box. He didn't really want Cheng to see everything that was inside.

"Are you okay?" Cheng asked as he pulled out the chair next to Cortes and sat down.

"Yeah…" Cortes nodded.

"It's just you left the bridge kind of quickly. And after all the stuff that happened…"

"I'm fine," Cortes reiterated.

Cheng hadn't failed to notice the cigar box. He also couldn't help noticing the attention Cortes seemed to be giving it.

"… what's in there?"

"What?"

"The box…"

"Just… some photos," said Cortes, shifting uncomfortably. "I put your mother's ring in there too. Just to keep it safe…"

Cheng stared at the closed lid for a moment. "Photos… like of my mother and father?" He looked up at Cortes.

"Among others…" Cortes trailed off, his throat suddenly dry. The thought had just stuck him: he'd never shown Cheng a picture of his parents. Sure there were those photos up in the tavern. But they were old group shots, grainy and faded. Anything more personal Cortes owned had been thrown away, or put in the small box, hidden away.

Cortes opened the lid to the box, not trusting himself to say anything at that point in time. He looked at its contents for a brief moment.

Cheng hung back, wanting to see, but not wanted to invade Cortes' privacy either.

After that brief moment, Cortes selected a single photograph and handed it to Cheng. "Here…"

Cheng looked up at Cortes before carefully taking the offered picture. He placed it on the table in front of himself, and just looked at it. In it were a man and woman, holding hands, smiling.

"That's your mother and father…"

Cheng didn't say a word. The photograph held his unwavering gaze. Then he reached out a hand, gently touching the picture's surface. He would never be able to touch his parents for real. He had been too young to ever remember doing so.

Cortes hadn't shown him the photo until now. It had never even crossed his mind. He'd kept it locked away, when it was something he now knew Cheng needed to see. How could he have been so selfish?

Having both the photo and Cheng in front of him now, Cortes was struck by how much the boy resembled his parents. Especially that intense look of concentration with which he viewed the photograph…

The image of his mother was so sudden and powerful that Cortes had to turn away.

The movement distracted Cheng, and he looked up. "Are you okay…?" he asked.

"You just… you remind me of them sometimes, lad," said Cortes quietly.

Cheng seemed to think, looking at the photo again. Then he looked back up at Cortes. "Do you miss them?"

"Sometimes… especially after seeing her…" he gritted his teeth, letting that thought trail off. "I don't know why I believed she was still alive. And I shouldn't have built your hopes up either. I'm sorry, Cheng."

"It's not your fault." Cheng placed a hand on the Captain's arm.

"It is… I… I just…" How was he supposed to say he had cared more about Cheng's mother then he was supposed to?

"You just missed her. I wanted it to be her as well. It's okay, Cortes."

Cortes was silent, just staring straight ahead.

"I'm just glad you're okay…" said Cheng. He hugged Cortes, gripping tighter onto his arm.

Cortes sighed. He put his other hand on Cheng's back. "Yeah, me too…" He waited until Cheng pulled away. "Hey, thanks for coming to get me. I don't know if I would have woken if you didn't."

Cheng shrugged. "It's okay."

Cortes was now looking at the picture again as it sat in front of Cheng. "You know… you're mother was really smart. Just like you."

Cheng looked at him sharply. "Yeah…?" He paused there, really wanting to ask for more, but afraid of pushing too hard in case Cortes simply stopped.

Cortes could tell this was what he was thinking. At that moment in time, he simply didn't want to disappoint Cheng again. "Yeah, she really liked working with all the weapons systems… And you're father could program them to do just about anything. They really made a good… team."

Cheng didn't interrupt, waiting for more.

"We had this ship called the Behemoth," Cortes continued, "You should have seen what they tried to do with its forward gun turrets. Tian thought it was a good idea to loop the energy back…"

At first he found it difficult to delve even deeper into his memories than he had already today. But as he told Cheng about his parents, really for the first time in any great detail, he found it became easier. Much easier than keeping those memories locked away in a box. And they didn't hurt so much when he shared them with Cheng.


End file.
